Back In Gear
by hellbutterfly91
Summary: 5 years ago Venjix was defeated and Dillon, Summer and Tenaya traveled out of the Corinth to see how they could help rebuild. Now though they have decided to come back, only to find some things seem to have changed drastically. When evil rears it head again the Rangers must shift back into gear to defeat it. Will they be able to come together to be the seamless team they once were?
1. Corinth

It was amazing what could change in 5 years.

That was the time it had taken for the sky to turn from a murky red orange to a bright and clear blue. The ground was no longer dry and sandy, instead it was green with new grass and dotted with yellow flowers. It was overall an amazing change.

Another change was the air in areas was no longer toxic. That meant that you could drive with the windows rolled down, the breeze flowing through your car on a nice day. Which is exactly what a trio of people were doing as the black Pontiac GTO they rode in sped over the grassy hills.

Behind the wheel sat a man with dark hair and dark eyes, a smirk on his face as he gripped the steering wheel. In the back seat sat a woman who shared similar features as the driver, her black lacquered nails tapping on the window in time with the song that played on the radio. Finally riding shotgun was a blond with icy blue eyes, her hand was resting on the driver's knee as she watched the familiar surroundings go by.

"Hey Dillon?" The girl in the back asked leaning between the seats.

"I swear Tenaya if you ask me one more time how much longer I will make you walk to Corinth." he warned his sister.

"Someone's in a mood." Tenaya muttered as she sat back with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Dillon…be nice. We've all been in this car for ages." the blond said patting his knee.

Dillon rolled his eyes, "Exactly! We all have! I don't see you asking if we're there yet."

"Fine. Are we there yet?" Summer asked.

Dillon glared at his girlfriend and his now smirking sister before turning his eyes back on the road. However…now that the question had been posed he was kind of wondering himself.

"Summer? Can you look at that map in the glove box?" he asked.

Summer smiled at him, "Oh so now you want to know how long until Corinth?"

"No…I just…I want to make sure that I'm going the right way." he replied.

"Right Dillon. Whatever you say." Tenaya laughed.

"Will you just check the map?" he growled at Summer.

Summer pulled the map out and traced the route that they had marked 3 days ago when they'd decided it was time to head back to Corinth for a while.

"Head up that hill." Summer said looking up from the map, pointing to a hill a few yards away.

Dillon nodded and turned the wheel, directing The Fury up the hill. Soon they reached the top of the hill and Dillon stopped the car, the three of them getting out.

At the bottom of the hill stood the shining dome of Corinth City. What had once been the final home for humanity was soon to be one of many, something that the two former Rangers and former evil Cyborg had helped come to fruition. It seemed like forever ago that they had left the city and they couldn't be happier to see it right now.

"Come on…lets go." Summer said and turned toward the car, the other two following. Dillon started The Fury again, racing down the hill.

They pulled up to the gate and were stopped by a couple of guards. Despite the fact that Venjix had long ago been defeated the Dome was still under security. It would take a long time before humans felt fully safe again. However the fact that the security was so extreme was odd.

"Name?" the guard asked leaning down to look through the window.

"Summer Landsdown, Dillon and Tenaya." Summer said flashing a bright smile.

"Dillon and Tenaya what?" the guard asked.

Dillon felt a spark of annoyance and looked at the guard, "Just Dillon and just Tenaya." he replied.

"You're trying to tell me that neither of you have last names?" he asked looking less than amused.

"We are because we don't." Tenaya said glaring at the guard.

In the 5 years since they had left Corinth both siblings had found out very little about their forgotten past. A few memories here and there had come back but not enough to tell them who they really were. Though they had accepted the fact that they may never get their memories back in full it was still a sore spot with both.

"If you need clearance feel free to talk to Commander Scott Truman of Eagle Squad. He'll vouch for all three of us." Summer replied.

The guard looked at them for a few moments before pulling out his radio. He muttered something into it before something equally muttered came from the other end. However it looked like he got it.

"You're free to enter. Commander Truman is waiting for you on the other side." he said and gave the signal for the gates to open.

"Asshole." Dillon muttered as he drove through the gate.

"Ditto." Tenaya replied from the backseat.

Sure enough when they crossed the barrier a familiar car was sitting on the other side, an even more familiar face leaning against the side of the car. Bringing the car to a stop Dillon, Summer and Tenaya climbed out.

"Well look who decided it was time for a visit!" Scott laughed, greeting his friends. He was dressed in the same gray uniform that all of the military wore and his hair was much more subdued than it previously had been. It was tied with a rubber band at the base of his neck.

"Well we've been a lot of places. We just got back around this way!" Summer laughed and hugged the former Red Ranger.

"You look great Summer." he smiled.

"You too Scott." Summer smiled.

"Hi Scott." Tenaya smiled awkwardly.

She had never really gotten to know the other Rangers outside of being brainwashed by Venjix which made things awkward.

"How are you doing Tenaya?" Scott asked and despite the awkwardness between them hugged her anyhow.

"I'm good." she smiled.

"And if it isn't the brooding bad boy." Scott said as he turned to Dillon.

"I will still kick your ass Truman." Dillon said.

"Oh please. I'd have your ass on the ground faster than you could count!" Scott grinned and the two men clasped hands before participating in a bro hug.

"So do the others know you're back yet?" Scott asked

"Not yet. We thought we'd make it a surprise." Summer smiled.

"Do you know where the others are?" Dillon asked.

"Well it's nearly 5 so probably back at the garage." Scott said checking his watch.

"They still really still live there? After all this time?" Tenaya asked.

"Yeah pretty much." Scott nodded.

"Wow. So I guess the next stop is the Garage." Dillon said.

"I'll stop by later and we can all catch up. Right now though I gotta get back to work." Scott replied.

"Okay but do us a favor and don't let the others in on it okay?" Summer asked.

"No problem." Scott smiled.

Dillon, Tenaya and Summer climbed back into The Fury and began to make their way across town.

With a smirk Scott watched them drive away before getting back in his car.

"Good luck you three. I have a feeling that they may have more surprises for you than you have for them." he laughed and headed back to base.

Before long the three friends were pulling into the familiar garage. They hadn't even climbed out yet when a door flew open from upstairs.

"I know the sound of that engine!" Flynn's voice yelled and a moment later he appeared on the metal walk outside the door, a smile stretched across his face.

"I didn't think I'd ever see the lot of you round here again." Flynn laughed as he hurried down the steps.

"Well here we are!" Summer smiled.

"I see that! And it's quite a surprise!" he laughed and grabbed hold of Summer, swinging her around, making her laugh.

When he put her down a moment later he moved over doing the same to Tenaya. Who let out more of a squeak of surprise than a laugh. Finally he moved onto Dillon.

"You're not picking me up dude." Dillon said putting his hands up to ward of the overexcited Scotsman.

"A hug then at least?" he asked.

"Fine." Dillon conceded and hugged his friend.

"So where have you three been all this time?" he asked.

"A little of everywhere. We helped a lot of people and did a lot of good." Tenaya said.

"After all that we decided to come back for a little visit." Summer added.

"Where are the others?" Dillon asked.

"Well Gem and Gemma are still at the base and Dr. K is still at the school but Ziggy is here…somewhere at least." Flynn said and the four of them went to look for the former Green Ranger.

They found Ziggy in a chair with his feet propped up on the table, his face under a magazine with soft snoring sounds emitting from the pages.

Dillon shook his head and with a smirk leaned forward and grabbed one of the legs of the chair, tilting it back further than it already was. A moment later it fell back along with Ziggy who promptly stood up.

"Please don't kill me Fresno Bob! You said we were even!" Ziggy screamed.

"Hate to tell you this Zig but Fresno Bob isn't here." Dillon smiled.

"Really?" Ziggy asked clutching his chest.

"Yeah. It's just us." Summer replied.

"Thank god…just you." he said running his hands through his already messy hair, wandering off in a random direction.

"Wonder how long it's going to take him to realize we're here." Tenaya whispered to the others.

Flynn grinned, "I say in 3...2...1..."

"YOU'RE HERE!" Ziggy suddenly screamed and ran at his friends.

He threw his arms roughly around Dillon and Summer's necks.

"Oh my god! I can't believe it! You're here! When did you get here?! Why didn't you tell me you were coming?!" He asked freaking out like there was no tomorrow.

"Whoa…calm down Ziggy! One question at a time!" Summer laughed.

"Sorry I just can't believe that you're actually here!" he grinned.

"We thought we'd stop in and see what everyone was up to for a bit." Tenaya said.

"This is great! Gem and Gemma and Scott are going to be so psyched that-"

"Ziggy? Flynn? Would you care to tell me why The Fury is-OH!"

Dillon, Tenaya and Summer turned to see Dr. K standing behind them looking at them surprised.

"Hello Dr. K." Summer smiled.

"Summer, Dillon, Tenaya! What a pleasant surprise!" she smiled and immediately all three found themselves wrapped in hugs. Though Dr. K had hugged them several times before they'd left it was still an odd feeling coming from the rather formal scientist.

"I am so very glad that you chose to come back! Are you here to stay?" she asked.

"For now." Dillon nodded.

"And you are staying here…right?" Flynn asked.

"Where else would we stay?" Summer asked.

"And by the way Zig, Scott already knows we're here. He met us at the gate after the guard gave us a hard time getting in." Dillon said.

"Yeah they're really become hard assed around here about some things." Flynn replied.

Dr. K gave him a disapproving look at the swear and he sighed, "I'm sorry. It slipped out!" he replied.

Dr. K looked at him again before turning back to the 3 visitors.

"Dillon I'm afraid that you're going to have to room with Gem. We don't have as much room as we once did. You see while you were away-"

"IS THIS-"

"THE FURY?!"

"ARE DILLON-"

"SUMMER AND TENAYA-"

"BACK?!"

The twins voices came from the front. A moment later the twins skidded into the room.

"Oh man!" Gemma grinned.

"It's you guys!" Gem laughed and both nearly tackled the 3 of them in hugs.

"Where have you been?" Gem asked pulling a way a few moments later.

"What have you been doing?" Gemma fired just as quick.

"Do you know what we've been doing?" Gem asked.

"Making things go boom!" Gemma grinned even bigger.

"And we get paid to do it!" Gem said bouncing up and down.

The twins high fived each other and turned back to Dillon, Tenaya and Summer smiling.

"Um…okay dumb question but just where is Candy?" Ziggy asked.

"Don't worry." Gem said.

"She's safe." Gemma nodded.

"She's playing with that musical watch that was Dillon and Tenaya's," Gem said.

"In the testing room." Gemma finished.

"THE TESTING ROOM?!" Dr. K, Ziggy and Flynn yelled at once and took off with Gem and Gemma following.

Dillon, Summer and Tenaya looked at each other confused but followed anyhow.

"You can't leave her in there! You know she likes to tinker! Especially with the Ranger equipment!" Dr. K said as they ran.

"Do you not remember the day she tried to build a new blaster and ended up nearly burning the garage down?!" Ziggy said.

"Who's Candy?" Summer asked Dillon.

"Search me. A new lab assistant?" he shrugged.

"Apparently a very bad one." Tenaya replied.

They walked into the white and plastic room that was covered in monitors, the Ranger suits still hanging in their colored cubbies along the wall. The familiar tune played from the chair where Dr. K had down morphed the zords and kept tabs on everything which was directly where both Ziggy and Dr. K made a beeline for.

"Candy you know better than to come in here!" Dr. K said.

"At least without Mommy or Daddy." Ziggy added.

Dillon looked at Summer who looked at Tenaya who looked back at Dillon.

"_Mommy and Daddy?_" they all said at once.

Ziggy and Dr. K looked up and then at one another. With a sigh Ziggy leaned forward, standing up a moment later with a little girl in his arms. She had dark curly hair and clear blue eyes and was dressed in a green t-shirt, black pleated skirt, white knee high socks and black Mary Jane shoes. In her hand was the still twinkling watch.

"Dillon, Tenaya, Summer…there is someone Ziggy and I would like you to meet." Dr. K said.

Ziggy nodded, "This is Candy…our daughter."

* * *

**_So this is the second story that I have posted today! _**

**_I had 2 stories that I could post after finishing my previous story and I couldn't choose so I chose both! _**

**_I hope you all enjoyed it! _**

**_Comments are very much welcome! _**

**_Thank you for reading!_**


	2. Reunion

Summer, Dillon and Tenaya gaped at the two people in front of them. There was no way that it was possible. Dr. K? Ziggy? A daughter? Together? Somehow those words didn't seem to form a plausible sentence.

"Candy these are Mommy and Daddy's friends, Summer, Dillon and Tenaya." Ziggy said.

"The ones from the watch?" she asked holding up the watch.

"Yes exactly the ones from the watch." Ziggy replied.

"It's very nice to meet you. My name is Candy." she smiled and held out a hand.

"It's nice to meet you too Candy." Summer smiled and shook the little girl's hand, Dillon and Tenaya following suit.

"Thank you for the music watch." she said holding up the battered silver timepiece.

"You're welcome." Tenaya said looking from Dillon and back to Candy.

"Daddy can I go play now?" she asked looking at Ziggy.

"Sure sweetheart." Ziggy said and set her down.

"No experiments though." Dr. K warned.

"Aww!" Candy frowned.

"No whining. Now go play." Dr. K said.

"Okay." Candy said a little more defeated than before.

Once Candy was out of the room Dillon turned to look at his friends.

"A kid? W-When did you have a kid?"

"Nearly 4 years ago." Ziggy smiled.

"Three years, eleven months and four days actually." Dr. K replied.

"Anyone care to explain?" Summer asked.

"Agreed. Please do." Tenaya replied.

"Candy is the result of a short lived relationship between the two of us." Dr. K replied.

"Exactly. Very short. Miniscule." Ziggy replied.

"Indeed. During the process we participated in a few brief nights of passion and the result was the conceiving of a child. 9 months later Candy was born." Dr. K said.

"Hey! They weren't that brief." Ziggy said looking a little offended.

Dr. K gave him a look and turned back to the others, "Though Ziggy and I may no longer be an item we are both thoroughly committed to raising our daughter together."

"I just want to know HOW you two got together. When we left the two of you were just on a first name basis! We were under the impression that the only reason that you addressed him as Ziggy at all was because you couldn't call him Series Operator Green anymore! I know 5 years is a long time but…" Dillon trailed off.

"Dillon if we knew how it happened we would gladly tell you. The truth is we don't know just how it happened just that one day…it happened." Ziggy shrugged.

"As improbable as that sounds it's quite true." Dr. K replied.

"Aye…we looked up one day they were a couple. It was quite odd to be honest." Flynn replied.

"It was." Gemma nodded.

"They were kissing and touching and stuff." Gem shuddered.

"Wow. I can honestly say that I expected some things to have changed but I did NOT expect this." Summer laughed.

"I don't think any of us did." Dillon said shaking his head.

"Well now that we've gotten that bit of information out of the way feel free to head upstairs and refresh yourselves before Scott arrives. I am sure that he will want to catch up and will be arriving soon. Summer your old room is empty and you and Tenaya may stay in there. You know where to find your sheets and things." Dr. K said.

"Alright. Thanks Doc." Tenaya said and they headed for the Fury.

Dillon popped the trunk and began to pull out their bags; a army green rucksack for him, a yellow duffle for Summer and a dark purple duffle for Tenaya. Grabbing their things they headed upstairs.

Dr. K had said that he would be crashing with Gem so he headed towards the former Gold Ranger's room. There were three beds in the room, one done meticulously with clean white sheets and a black blanket, another messily covered with green sheets and a black blanket and finally a bare mattress.

Judging by the green sheets Dillon guessed that Ziggy would be his roommate as well so he threw his bag onto the empty bed, sinking into the familiarly lumpy mattress that was standard in the Garage. After being on the move for so long it was nice to stop and settle down into familiar surroundings. The smells, the feeling, the noises all were familiar and comforting.

There was a knock on the door and Dillon looked up to see Summer standing in the doorway with a stack of black sheets along with a black blanket and bare pillow. A similar sack of yellow was under the black.

"Black okay?" she smiled walking in.

"Well I was thinking of something more along the lines of pink but if black is all you have I guess I'll have to take it." he grinned.

Summer sat the sheets at the foot of the bed before sitting down beside Dillon, resting her head on his shoulder.

"It feels good to be back doesn't it?" she sighed.

"It does. You know when I first came to Corinth I never thought I'd find anything worth caring about. I didn't know who I was or where I was from but being here gave me a handle on that. I'm Dillon and I'm from Corinth City. I have a sister named Tenaya, friends named Ziggy, Flynn, Gem, Gemma and Dr. K when she feels like being my friend. And most importantly of all I have a beautiful girlfriend." He smiled and brushed a strand of blonde hair from Summer's face, kissing her softly.

"I love you." Summer smiled at him.

"I love you too." he smiled and once again pressed his lips to hers.

"You know this is the first time in a long time we won't be sharing a bed?" Summer asked as they sat on the bed.

"Yeah. Now you'll be sharing a room with my sister and Gemma." Dillon replied.

"Nope…there are only two beds in Tenaya and I's room. However I did happen to see a pair of silver sneakers sticking out from under Flynn's bed." Summer smiled.

"Flynn and Gemma?" Dillon asked.

Summer nodded, "I think so. Don't say anything though. They probably want to tell us themselves."

"Gotcha." Dillon said.

"Well I'm going to go put my bed together. Scott will probably be here sooner rather than later." Summer said standing up.

Dillon watched her separate the yellow sheets from the black and walk out leaving him alone again. Standing up Dillon began to make his bed. Once was happy with it he headed out of his room when he heard the tinkle of the familiar tune coming from the end of the hall. With a smile he followed the music.

At the end of the hall was his and Ziggy's old room however it didn't look like they had ever stayed there at all. The walls were painted a light lavender color and the floor had white carpet. Flowers and bunnies dotted the walls and toys were scatted along the floor. In one corner a white wooden bed with light pink sheets sat, stuffed animals covering the bed.

"Hi Dillon. Would you like to color?" Candy asked when she saw Dillon standing in the door way. She held up a crayon.

"Um…sure." Dillon replied.

"You sit there." she said pointing to a small pink chair on the other side of the table.

"I don't know if I can fit on that chair." Dillon laughed.

"Uncle Flynn does." Candy replied.

"Well I'll try then." Dillon replied and sat down on the small chair which surprisingly held.

"Here…you can color on this piece of paper." Candy said and laid a blank sheet of paper in front of him.

Dillon picked up a crayon and began to draw a car. He had been around a few kids in the time that they were outside Corinth but it had mostly been Summer that had dealt with them. He had handled the heavy stuff like building and such. Usually he was a little awkward around kids but he seemed right at ease with Candy.

"Daddy and Mommy told me about you." Candy said looking up at Dillon.

"Really? What did they tell you?" he asked.

"That you were Series Operator Black. They also told me that you were a bot-human hybrid and that you have Generation 7 caliber technology installed in your body that allows your abilities to surpass that of an average human. Oh and that you were Daddy's best friend." Candy replied her face serious.

Dillon stared at the small girl sitting across from him. He was mildly shocked that a 3 year old would know most of the words she just used. However he soon reminded himself that he was looking at the offspring of Dr. K and even if she was half Ziggy's there was no way that she wouldn't be brilliant.

"I was, I do and I guess so." Dillon replied looking at her.

"Can I see the technology?" she asked looking at him.

"Well it's under my skin so you can't really see it." he replied.

She nodded as if she accepted this but a moment later stood up and walked over to him. She stood beside him for a second before looking at him.

"Take off your jacket please." she said.

He looked at her for a moment but removed the leather jacket that was a constant staple in his daily wardrobe and put it on the floor next to him. No sooner had he done so than Candy pushed his sleeve up and began to prod his arm.

"Interesting." she replied before pulling his sleeve back down and returning to her seat.

Dillon smiled and went back to coloring his picture. Every so often the watch that sat on the table between them would stop and Candy would pick it up and wind it again.

"Hey…did you know that the watch plays more than one song?" he asked looking at Candy.

"Really?! Can you show me how?" she asked.

Dillon reached into his pocket and pulled out Tenaya's key. When they had left he hadn't realized that he had the second key. Reaching forward he took the key from around Candy's neck and inserted the smaller key into the larger one and handed it to her.

Excitedly Candy put the key into the hole and wound the watch. After a second it began to play the tune that Tenaya had once whistled before she attacked.

"I like it." Candy said listening to it.

Dillon smiled, "Then you can keep the key." he replied.

"Thank you!" she grinned and threw her arms around him in a hug.

"You're welcome." Dillon smiled.

"Well it looks like you two are getting along well."

Dillon turned and saw Ziggy leaning against the door.

"Daddy! Dillon gave me another key for the watch!" she grinned, running over to show Ziggy the key.

"Wow! So now it plays two songs right?" he asked.

"Uh-huh!" she beamed.

"That's great sweetheart. But hey I need to borrow Dillon. Uncle Scott is here and we want to all hang out and talk. I'll call you down when dinner is ready okay?" he asked.

"Okay Daddy." Candy smiled and walked back over to the table and sat down.

Dillon pulled himself up from the tiny chair and grabbed his coat, "Bye Candy."

"Bye-Bye Dillon." Candy waved and went back to drawing.

"So she takes after Doc K a lot huh?" Dillon said and he and Ziggy headed downstairs.

"How long did it take you realize that?" Ziggy asked.

"Oh not long…about the time she started talking about the caliber of the technology installed in my body." Dillon replied.

"Yeah she's really into stuff like that. I think she may even be smarter than K." Ziggy said with a smile.

"I saw some of you in her too Zig. She's a great kid." Dillon said.

"Thanks Dil. That means a lot. We're both just trying to give her what neither of us had, a family." Ziggy said with a soft smile as they walked over to their friends.

"Dude what took you two so long?" Scott asked as they joined the others at the bar.

"I had to drag him away from coloring with Candy." Ziggy replied as he walked to the stove to work on dinner.

"Ah so that little lass grabbed hold of your heart too eh?" Flynn asked.

"She is a cute kid." Dillon nodded.

"And she's so smart!" Gem said.

"She's like a mini K!" Gemma added.

"Speaking of kids, how is the school going Ziggy?" Summer asked.

"It's going great. The kids love cooking and a lot of them are coming along on their shadows puppets." Ziggy smiled.

"And how about Dr. K's classes?" Dillon asked.

"There are a few kids who are really progressing. It's surprising how many kids actually care about bio-field physics." Ziggy replied.

"Where is she by the way? And where is Tenaya?" Scott asked.

"Dr. K is checking out the implants in her eyes to make sure they're still functioning normally as well as giving her a mechanical check up. Oh and she told me to tell you that you're next Dillon." Summer replied smiling at her boyfriend.

"Ohh! Flynn! Can I tell them now?! Can I please?!" Gemma asked suddenly turning to Flynn.

Flynn sighed and smiled, "If you want."

"Flynn and I are engaged!" Gemma grinned.

"Are you serious? Engaged?!" Summer asked spinning around to look at Gemma.

"Mhmm." Gemma smiled and from inside of her shirt she pulled out a ring on a chain.

"We were waiting to tell you guys until this weekend but we thought that since everyone was here we should just do it now." Flynn grinned lacing his fingers through Gemma's.

"Wow. That is amazing guys. I am totally happy for you." Scott smiled and hugged both of his friends, the others following suit.

"So now I think it's time we hear what you three have been up to." Scott said looking at Summer and Dillon.

"And you can do it over dinner because food is ready." Ziggy said.

"Great because I am starving." Flynn replied patting his stomach.

"I'll go get Tenaya and Dr. K." Gem said and headed off in the direction of the testing room.

"Candy? Dinner!" Ziggy called up the stairs and a minute later the little girl came walking down the stairs.

"I want to sit by Dillon and Summer." she said as she walked towards the table.

"I don't see how that could be a problem." Summer said and helped Candy up into a chair.

Ziggy dealt out plates of food once everyone had taken their seats and everyone turned to Tenaya, Summer and Dillon to hear about their adventures outside of Corinth.

"Well a lot of what we did was helping people start to rebuild." Summer said.

"We probably ended up helping out seven or eight different cites. A lot of them are doing really well now." Dillon replied.

"Yeah they're like actual thriving cities. Some are on their way to being as big as Corinth." Tenaya replied.

The three of them began to talk about random places they'd been and the people they'd met while outside the dome. Everyone listened intently, especially Candy who was enthralled with every word that came from Summer, Tenaya and Dillon's mouths.

Soon 9 plates sat in the sink and Flynn and Gem teamed up do wash the dishes. Everyone else ended up around the pool table recounting memories from before Venjix had been defeated. Sometime during the conversation Candy climbed into the backseat of Flynn's hummer and fell asleep.

"We'll I'd better put her to bed." Dr. K said and despite her small stature picked up the 3 year old with ease, carrying her upstairs to bed.

"So Zig how do you like being a Dad?" Dillon asked leaning on the cue in his hands.

"It's great. There's this little person who loves you no matter what. Her first word was Dada you know." Ziggy grinned.

"Really?" Tenaya asked.

"No…it was quadrilateral but her second one was Dada." Ziggy replied.

"Leave it to Doc K's kid to have their first word be a math word." Scott smirked.

Suddenly the door of the Garage opened up making everyone turn. A moment later Colonel Truman walked in, Hicks and Vasquez flanking him along with a couple of other solders that no one knew the names of.

"Ah Dillon, Summer, Tenaya…I heard that you had returned to Corinth. Welcome back." Colonel Truman smiled.

"It's nice to be back." Summer smiled.

"So Dad what's up? I mean I really doubt that you came here just to welcome Dillon, Tenaya and Summer back to the city." Scott said looking at his father.

"Candy isn't awake is she?" he asked looking around for the little girl.

"No…I just put her to bed. What do we owe your visit to Colonel Truman?" Dr. K said coming down the steps.

Colonel Truman sighed, "I'm glad that all of you are together and Candy is in bed. It is best if I only say this once and not in front of young ears no matter how intelligent."

"Colonel what's going on?" Flynn asked.

Colonel Truman looked around at all of the former Rangers, "We are all in serious trouble."

* * *

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	3. Rising Evil & Precautions

"Trouble? What are you talking about Dad?" Scott asked, his eyes wide.

Colonel Truman ignored his son's question and turned to Dr. K, "Dr. K do you still have the morphers?"

"Yes. They are in storage." she replied.

"Well get them out of storage. You're going to need them again. Venjix is back." Colonel Truman replied.

Instantly the room erupted as everyone began yelling at once. The air was a mix of expletives and questions.

"EVERYONE CALM DOWN!" Colonel Truman yelled over them.

"Calm down?! You just told us Venjix was back!" Ziggy replied his voice squeaking.

"How is he even still around? We defeated him!" Scott added.

"We're not sure. All we know is that the city of Pirnum is in ruins. At precisely 2 this afternoon Grinders invaded the city with four attack bots. In an hour the city was destroyed. Thousands of lives were lost and still more were taken away by Grinders." Colonel Truman said and pulled out a video pad and played a black and white video of Grinders destroying the city.

They watched the video in horror as the city fell in ruins, humans dying left and right. Before the video even ended Dillon turned away, stomping away. He began to pace in the back and a moment later he let out a scream, punching the solid wall.

"DILLON!" Summer yelled and hurried over to her boyfriend, taking his large hand in her smaller ones, inspecting the knuckles.

"I'm fine." Dillon said and tried to pull his hand from Summer's grasp but she held firm.

"Let me see." she ordered and began to run her fingers over the skin, checking for anything that might be broken. After a few seconds she saw that it was only the skin that was broken, the bones underneath still intact.

"I'm going to go get the first aid box." Summer replied and let go of his hand, heading towards the kitchen.

"Dillon you need to calm down. We're all angry." Scott said.

"You don't get it." Dillon said with a bitter smile, shaking his head.

"Then explain it to us." Flynn replied.

"The last city we were in was Pirnum." Tenaya said suddenly.

"How long ago-"

"Were you there?" Gem and Gemma asked looking at Tenaya.

"A week ago." Tenaya replied.

"Did anything seem odd to you?" Colonel Truman asked.

"No. Everything looked normal." she replied.

"Well one of the few survivors reported that they were headed this way. We have increased security but we're going to need all the help we can get." Colonel Truman said and turned to look at Dr. K who nodded.

"The morphers are in storage. I will retrieve them in the morning." Dr. K said.

"Very well. I guess the only question is are all of you up to becoming the Rangers again?" Colonel Truman asked.

"If I do I'm going to need some time off from Eagle Squad." Scott smirked looking at his father.

"Of course." Colonel Truman smiled back.

"Then I'm in." Scott replied.

"We're in too!" Gem cried, both him and Gemma smiling from ear to ear.

"It's not even a question." Flynn replied.

"I'm in." Summer said as she finished wrapping Dillon's hand.

"You can count on me." Ziggy said.

"And me." Dillon nodded.

"I have a heavy heart in asking you to once again to sacrifice everything to protect all of us but I thank you for doing so." Colonel Truman said.

"Dad…you couldn't tell us not to do it. It's our job." Scott said.

Colonel Truman nodded and bid everyone goodbye before leaving.

As much yelling and screaming that had happened when Colonel Truman had dropped the Venjix bomb was how much silence there was now. No one spoke or made a single noise for a large stretch of time. All 8 of them all sat staring into space, their minds racing.

Dillon thought about the people who had died, people he had just left. If he'd stayed another few days he may have been able to save some of those lives. Just maybe…

Summer's thoughts were similar to Dillon's. She worried about all the lives that had been lost but she worried about Dillon too. She knew he would take this all on himself and harbor the blame for a long time.

Tenaya found herself worrying about Venjix. The memories of being under his control had somehow become slightly faded but now they were back and sharp as ever. She worried what would happen now that Venjix was back. He hadn't taken kindly to her defecting to the Ranger's side and she had been an important part of why he had seen defeat at all. If he had somehow managed to survive the first time what was to say that this time would be any different?

Gem and Gemma for once didn't share exactly the same thoughts and worries. Both thought of when they'd been 'deleted' by Venjix and then they thought about how they would stop him this time. The one thought that separated their worries was Gemma's. Her mind was on Flynn.

When she had originally become a Ranger it was only Gem and herself that she had to worry about. Now she had Flynn too. She loved him and worried about just what might happen to either of them. He was just as important to her as her brother. It wasn't that she didn't worry about Gem but it was different. She wasn't sure why but she wasn't as scared for him as she was for her fiancé. Maybe it was because as her twin he was a mirror of herself. Either way she was scared.

Scott's mind was on how Eagle Squad would fare without two of their best members and two of their best members. He would have to assign a new captain to take his place for the time being. He knew that they had stopped Venjix once and fully believe they could do it again. How he didn't know but they really didn't have a choice.

Flynn couldn't stop worrying about Gemma. They had nearly lost her the last time that they had fought Venjix and the thought of her being gone again made him sick. He didn't know what he would do without her.

The only two who had the same thoughts were Dr. K and Ziggy. Their mind was on the 3 year old little girl who was asleep upstairs and none the wiser about the threat that lay just outside the boarder of Corinth. What would they do if something happened to either of them? After a few moments of worry they looked up and their eyes met. Wordlessly the both of them stood and walked out of the room, none of the others paying attention because they were too absorbed in their own heads.

"So what are we going to do K?" Ziggy asked once they were away from the others.

"Well obviously we must take steps to ensure that Candy's life will remain as normal as possible and that she will be well taken care of should we both meet an untimely demise." Dr. K replied.

"Okay…so the question is if something happens to us who gets Candy? What do you think?" Ziggy asked.

Dr. K was silent for a few moments as she thought. Which of the people she had come to call friends would be best suited to raise her daughter? Which would be able to contend with a child who was so exceptionally intelligent? And most importantly who would give her all the love she needed and that both Ziggy and herself wanted to her to have?

"Let's consider our options shall we?" Dr. K said.

"Well our circle of friends is really small so there aren't a lot to consider. Lets start out with Scott." Ziggy replied.

"No. Though a dedicated soldier I do not believe that he has the skills to appropriately raise a small child. Though around her for 3 years Scott still sometimes seems baffled as to what to do with Candy." She said shaking her head.

"Okay then there's Flynn and Gemma." Ziggy said next.

"I don't think they're suitable either. Though I know that Gemma is bright enough to raise a child I do not know if she could handle the responsible aspect of the job. I'm still stunned by the fact that you're capable of punishing our daughter as it is. Flynn would be but Gemma regularly gives into any whim that Candy has as it is now. Without us there to stop her she would certainly spoil her. Flynn gives into Gemma and Gemma gives into Candy. It's a vicious cycle. Gem is the same as Gemma so therefore he wouldn't be a proper candidate." Dr. K said quickly as she waved her hands in a dismissive manor.

"Okay then…that leaves Dillon and Summer but they've only known her for a few hours. Do you think they would even take her?" Ziggy asked.

Dr. K bit her bottom lip and considered this fact before answering.

"Candy seems quite taken with the both of them and they are both the ideal mix of strict and kind that you would look for when considering who would take your child in the event of a tragedy. Candy also warmed up to them quite quickly. Usually she's quite cold until she knows you. The question isn't if they would be able to handle raising our daughter but if they would be willing to." Dr. K said.

"Well I know Dillon is good with kids. I watched him and Candy play earlier and they were a good match." Ziggy said.

"Then it's decided. If the will accept then we will as them to be Candy's godparents." Dr. K said nodding, happy they had come to the decision.

"When do we ask them?" Ziggy asked.

"The sooner the better I believe." Dr. K replied.

"Right. Let's go." Ziggy said and the two of them headed back into the main part of the Garage.

They found that the others had moved from their spots. Flynn was working under the hood of his Hummer, Gem and Gemma were tinkering at the workbench and Tenaya and Scott were playing pool. Summer and Dillon were nowhere to be found.

"Hey! Where did Dillon and Summer go?" Ziggy asked.

"Summer's taking a shower and Dillon went up to his room." Tenaya replied as she watched Scott shoot the 4 ball into the pocket.

"Thank you." Dr. K replied and they headed upstairs.

They found Dillon sprawled out on his bed with his hands under his head, staring up at the ceiling.

"Hey Dillon? Can we talk to you?" Ziggy asked knocking on the door.

"Yeah sure." Dillon replied sitting up.

"We have something of utmost important to ask you. You're not obligated to say yes but we do ask you to please think it over first before you reject our proposal." Dr. K said.

Dillon looked at her for a moment, "Um…okay."

Ziggy took a deep breath and sunk down onto his bed, Dr. K choosing to remain standing.

"K and I were thinking some things over. We realize just how dangerous this whole Venjix returning thing is going to be and we started thinking about Candy and what was best for her." Ziggy said.

"Wait…whoa…are you talking about quitting Ziggy? Giving up your morpher?" Dillon asked.

"What? No! We actually would like to know if you would be willing to take Candy. You know…in case something happens to K and I?" Ziggy asked.

Dillon looked at his friend and the doctor confused, "So you want me to like…be her godfather?"

"In other terms yes. We've reviewed our options and we have realized that you and Summer are clearly the best choice." Dr. K said.

"What would we be the best choice for?" Summer asked as she walked into the room drying her hair, already dressed in a pair of yellow pajama pants and a white tank top.

"They want us to take Candy if anything happens to them." Dillon replied.

"What? You guys…nothing is going to happen to you! You're going to be fine!" Summer said.

"It's just a precaution. We don't really think we're going to kick the bucket but if we do we want to know that Candy is safe." Ziggy said.

"So you want us to take care of her? We barely know her…she barely knows us." Dillon replied.

"That's just it though. Candy took to both of you quickly. Candy is a very astute judge of character. She very rarely takes to people as readily as she took to you two and Tenaya." Dr. K replied.

Summer sunk down beside Dillon and looked at Dr. K, "Really?"

"Indeed. When you told me that Dillon and Candy were playing this afternoon I was quite surprised. She will refuse to talk to someone she doesn't like and even go as far as to completely ignore them. The fact she seems to enjoy the company of you both is quite extraordinary." Dr. K said.

"So what do you think?" Summer asked looking at Dillon.

"What do I think? Are you saying that you're in?" he asked.

"Only if you are Dillon. They want both of us." Summer pointed out.

"I don't know the first thing about kids Summer! How in the hell am I going to be able to raise a 3 year old?" he asked standing up.

"Look Dillon, if you don't want to it's okay. We just thought we'd ask you first. If you don't want the responsibility we understand. We'll find someone else." Ziggy said patting Dillon on the shoulder.

"Exactly. Thank you for the consideration though." Dr. K said and they both turned towards the door.

Dillon watched as they began to walk out of the door and he remembered coloring with Candy and how she had smiled at him. She was a sweet little girl as well…

"Wait!" he said.

Ziggy and Dr. K turned and looked at Dillon who sighed.

"I'll…I'll be Candy's godfather."

"Oh my god thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to us!" Ziggy said and threw his arms around Dillon.

"Whoa…Zig…I can't breath!" Dillon gasped.

"Sorry." Ziggy smiled pulling away and moving onto Summer.

"I agree with Ziggy…thank you so very much Dillon." Dr. K said and gave one of her rare hugs to Dillon.

"You're welcome." Dillon replied awkwardly hugging her back.

"We're just happy we can help." Summer smiled as Dr. K hugged her as well.

After thanking both Summer and Dillon a few more times Summer decided it was time to head to bed as did Dr. K, leaving Ziggy and Dillon alone to get ready in their own bed.

"So tomorrow we're getting back in gear." Ziggy sighed as he pulled off his t-shirt.

"Yeah…it's kind of weird isn't it?" Dillon smirked.

"It is. Do you think the team will work the same way?" Ziggy inquired.

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't it? It's not like we're sending half of our team off to some Peace Conference or something and pulling 3 random people in off the street." Dillon replied.

"Well things are different for all of us. It might affect the dynamic." Ziggy said.

Dillon turned and looked at Ziggy for a second before laughing, "When did you turn into an adult?"

Ziggy shrugged, "Sometime around the time I heard 'Ziggy I'm pregnant and you're the father'?"

Dillon shook his head, "Well I'm sure we'll be fine. We may have changed but we're still the same people. Don't sweat it."

Ziggy nodded and climbed into bed, "Goodnight Dillon."

"Night Zig." Dillon replied crawling under his own covers.

Soon they were both asleep.


	4. Get In Gear (Again!)

Dillon woke sometime later and pulled his face out of his pillow only to see three sets of eyes peering at him over the edge of his bed. A pair of brown ones, a pair of plastic ones and a pair of blue ones.

"What the hell? Ziggy? What on earth are you doing?" Dillon asked looking at his friend confused.

"We came to wake you up Uncle Dillon!" Candy grinned popping up from the side of the bed. She had her hair pulled into two pigtails and wore a pair of bright pink plaid pajamas with tiny purple puppies on them and matching purple puppy slippers.

"Uncle?" Dillon asked looking at her.

She nodded, "I call Uncle Flynn and Uncle Gem and Uncle Scott Uncle….I didn't want you to feel left out." she replied.

Dillon smiled and ruffled her brown hair and turned back to Ziggy.

"So you decided to wake me up by crouching at the side of the bed with a 3 year old and pink bunny?" Dillon smirked sitting up.

"His name is Usa-Chan!" Candy said waving the pink stuffed bunny that she held in her hand at him.

Dillon looked from the girl to Ziggy for explanation.

"Gem and Gemma let her watch some Japanese Cartoon thing. One of the characters had a pink rabbit named Usa-Chan. She had that one and named it Usa-Chan." he said.

"Gotcha. Now what time is it?" he asked looking for a clock but not finding one.

"Just after 8." Ziggy replied.

"EIGHT?" Dillon replied glaring at Ziggy.

"Uh-huh! It's time for you to get you morpher Uncle Dillon." Candy replied.

Dillon sighed as everything from the previous night settled over him. Venjix was back, he was going to become a Power Ranger yet again and he was now Candy's godfather. He wished he could go back to sleep and forget everything.

However instead of laying back down he sat up and ran his hands through his hair.

"Give me 10 and I'll be down." Dillon replied.

"Alright we'll be waiting for you. C'mon sweetheart. Lets go get you dressed." Ziggy said and Candy took his hand, skipping out of the room.

Ziggy shut the door and Dillon began to get dressed. He pulled on his usual black jeans, black t-shirt and leather jacket with boots. After running his hands through his hair a few times he headed out of the room.

Waiting on the other side was Candy who was also wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt. She stood with her arms behind her back rocking back and forth on her feet which were covered with green slip ons. Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and the key to the watch dangled from around her neck.

"Hi Uncle Dillon." She grinned as he walked out.

"Hi." he said looking at her outfit.

"Mommy and Daddy and the others are waiting! Lets go!" she said grabbing his hand.

Smiling Dillon picked up the little girl and swung her around so she was on his back. She wrapped her arms and legs around Dillon and rode along.

"So this morning Daddy told me that you and him and Uncle Scott and Uncle Flynn and Aunt Gemma and Uncle Gem and Aunt Summer were going to be Rangers again. Why not Aunt Tenaya?" she asked as they walked.

"Because she wasn't originally a Ranger. She was just a Generation 7 Bot." Dillon replied not wanting to go into details with Candy about the side of Tenaya that all of them wanted to forget about.

"Oh." was her only reply and they desended the steps.

"Don't look now Dillon but I think you may have a wee monkey on your back." Flynn laughed as Dillon and Candy joined the others.

"I'm not a monkey!" Candy laughed and slid from Dillon's back.

"I am a female homo sapien! Not a primate! Silly Uncle Flynn." she grinned and hugged him.

"So it looks like you have a little clone." Summer smiled as she walked over to stand by Dillon.

"I noticed." he smirked.

"Ziggy told me that she insisted on dressing like you today. She wouldn't wear anything but black." Summer replied.

Dillon just smiled and watched as Candy played some sort of random game with the twins.

"Okay everyone it's time." Dr. K said as she walked into the room carrying a large silver case.

Candy moved to the side and reached for a small white lab coat that was hanging from a hook near the door. She slipped it on and moved to stand beside Dr. K, looking very much like her mother. Both stood straight with their hands folded in front of them with their feet together. It was almost scary.

Dr. K carefully opened the lid, sending a fine cloud of dust into the air.

Reaching into the case she first pulled out a Rev Morpher along with an engine cell before handing both to Candy who walked over to Ziggy and handed them to him.

"Welcome back Series Operator Green."

"Thank you sweetheart." Ziggy grinned strapping the morpher back on his wrist.

One by one Dr. K removed the morphers and handed them to each Ranger. Before long she came to Dillon.

"Welcome back Series Operator Black."

Dillon smiled and strapped the morpher to his wrist. The weight was familiar and comforting.

"So…what do you say we try these suckers out? Make sure they still work right?" Scott smiled turning the Cell Shift Morpher over in his hand.

"I cannot condone that Scott. I have ran all the necessary tests on your morphers and I can assure you that they are fully functional in every way. They are not toys to be played with whenever you feel like you should 'try them out'." Dr. K chastised.

"Oh Mommy! Please can they try them out?! I want to see them!" Candy begged looking at her mother.

"Besides Dr. K you can never be certain they're really working if we don't try them out." Summer said.

Dr. K looked between her daughter and her friend before sighing.

"Fine! But only for a moment! You are to morph, check out your special ability and then you are de-morph as soon as you have done so!" Dr. K ordered.

"YAY! MORPH! MORPH!" Candy grinned as she jumped up and down.

"Let's do this!" Gemma yelled and the Rangers hurried outside to the alley just in front of the Garage.

"Okay Candy make sure you stand back. We don't want you to get hurt when they morph." Tenaya said held Candy's hand, Dr. K holding the other, leading the girl outside.

"Because of the residual energy run off that manifests itself as an explosion behind them right?" Candy asked.

"Exactly sweetheart." Dr. K replied.

"Ooh look! They're starting." Tenaya said and pointed to the Rangers who were lining up.

"Ready?" Scott called.

"Ready!" Everyone echoed.

"RPM! GET IN GEAR!" They all yelled and a moment later all seven stood in full suit.

"Wow! That was amazing!" Candy screamed and pulled away from Tenaya and Dr. K, running over to the others.

She straight to Ziggy who picked her up.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"You look awesome Daddy!" Candy smiled.

"Wanna see something else awesome?" he asked.

"Yeah!" she grinned.

"Alright hold on kiddo." Ziggy said and adjusted Candy on his hip so he could reach his morpher.

"Ziggy Grover what on earth are you doing?!" Dr. K asked.

"Trying out my special ability! Just like you told us to!" he replied.

"Ziggy don't you dare teleport with our child in your arms! You weren't very good at it when you had to do it everyday! Who know how bad you'll be after 5 years! You-" but Dr. K didn't get to finish her sentence as Ziggy hit the button and him and Candy were gone.

"Ziggy!" Dr. K yelled.

"Yes?" Ziggy asked stepping up behind Dr. K making her jump.

"That was NOT FUNNY!" she yelled.

"We're okay Mommy! Look!" Candy said and held out her arm, waving it so that Dr. K could see it was okay.

Dr. K sighed and glared at Ziggy before turning back to the other Rangers.

Each tried their special power before unmorphing. With smiles on their faces and a renewed sense that they could do this they all headed inside.

* * *

**_So I didn't plan on posting two chapters tonight but once I started writing I was just on a roll!_**

**_If you noticed I changed the title of the story just slightly. Instead of 'Into' it says 'In' now. I originally had it as the title it is now because I wanted to base if off their morphing call which is 'RPM GET IN GEAR!'. I wanted it to sort of reflect it but messed it up so I fixed it :D_**

**_This will be the last chapter that i'm going to post for the weekend because I have a second story based off of SPD that I have been neglecting terribly!_**

**_Anyhow I hope you enjoyed it!_**

**_Thanks for reading!_**


	5. Malfunction

A whining alarm drew Dillon from his sleep. Opening his eyes he was momentarily disoriented by the sudden awakening and the darkness pressing firmly on his eyes. However after a few seconds he gained his bearings and was on his feet.

His roommates stumbled around them in the dark, searching for clothes to throw on. After a few moments one of them decided to turn on a light. Whether it was Gem or Ziggy, Dillon didn't know. All he knew was a moment later the room was full of light and he was able to easily grab his jeans from the duffle at the foot of his bed and pull them on followed by a t-shirt over the wife beater he wore.

Stuffing their feet into shoes they all stumbled towards the door, tripping over themselves and each other. It had been a very long while since they'd had to jump and respond to an alarm at such a late hour that they were out of practice and clumsy. They almost didn't hear the small voice behind them.

"What's going on?"

All three men stopped in their tracks and turned to see Candy looking up at them curiously. She wore simple yellow pajamas with white flowers on them, the side of her face was still red and creased by her pillow.

"Go back to bed sweetheart. Everything is fine." Ziggy said but the little girl frowned at him.

"Is that the bot alarm? Are there Grinders?" she asked.

"Yes there are. Now you need to go back to bed." Ziggy replied.

"Oh no! Mommy might need my help!" Candy said and began to run for the steps.

"Aren't you going to stop her?" Dillon asked looking at Ziggy.

"Dude…the first thing you learn with kids is that in times like these it's best to let her Mother handle things." Ziggy said shaking his head and following his daughter.

Summer, Gemma, Flynn and Scott soon joined the team of three as they hurried down the steps, all looking less than awake.

"I am downloading the coordinates to your morphers now!" Dr. K called from the testing room where she had surely taken up her spot in front of the monitors again.

"Got it!" Scott yelled as he jumped into his car, Ziggy and Dillon got into the Fury and Flynn, Summer, Gemma and Gem stepping up into the Hummer.

"WAIT!" Candy suddenly yelled and a moment later all three vehicles had small boxes of cereal tossed through their windows.

"Daddy says breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" she yelled.

"Thanks Candy!" Summer smiled and a moment later all three cars peeled out of the Garage.

"Most important meal huh?" Dillon said as he shook the mini box of cereal that Candy had throw at him.

"What can I say? She listens." Ziggy replied and popped open his own box and downed a handful of the breakfast food.

Following the coordinates off of their morphers they were soon face to face with a dozen grinders.

"Alright let's show these walking pieces of scrap metal that we still have it! Ready?!" Scott yelled.

"READY!" the others echoed.

"RPM! GET IN GEAR!"

Once morphed all seven Rangers moved into action. They fell into their old parings as they fought. Scott, Flynn and Summer took the center, Dillon and Ziggy took the right and Gem and Gemma took the left. It was almost like nothing had changed. Then something happened.

"ARGH!" Dillon suddenly yelled.

A sharp pain coursed through his body, starting at his wrist and traveling to his head. He dropped to his knees as stars burst in front of his eyes.

"DILLON!" Summer yelled and ran over, kneeling next to the Black Ranger.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Pain…so much pain…" Dillon replied as his body collapsed fully on the ground.

The other Rangers finished dispatching the Grinders and rushed to their friend's side.

"What's going on? What's wrong with him?" Ziggy asked crouching beside Summer who was clasping Dillon's hand as he writhed in pain.

"I don't know! We've got to get him back to the Garage!" Summer replied.

"Scott, Ziggy, Gem help me get him into the back of the Hummer." Flynn said.

They lifted Dillon's twitching and stiff body into the back of the Hummer as quickly as they could.

"I'll take the Fury!" Ziggy yelled as he hurried to the black Mustang.

"NO!" Dillon yelled from the back of the Hummer.

"Even in pain Dillon is protective over his car. I'll take it!" Summer said and hurried and climbed into the driver's seat of the Fury with Ziggy in the passenger seat.

The three cars sped through town and soon screeched to a stop in the Garage.

"Dr. K!" Scott yelled and Dr. K came running with Tenaya behind her.

"I know! I saw the spike in his bio readings! Get him into the lab!" she ordered.

The guys picked up Dillon and put him on the table Dr. K had already sat up.

Suddenly Dillon began to convulse, rattling the table.

"Oh my god! Dr. K! What's going on?!" Tenaya asked as tears filled her eyes.

"His body is rejecting the morpher program! Scott, Flynn make sure he doesn't hurt himself! I'm going to try to shut it down from my computer!" she said and hurried over to her chair.

Suddenly a little whimper came from the corner of the room and Ziggy turned to see Candy peering around the case where the Ranger suits were kept when they weren't being used. Running over he scooped the little girl up in his arms and took her out of the room.

"Daddy what's wrong with Uncle Dillon?" Candy asked her eyes wide as she looked up at her father.

"He's sick right now sweetheart." Ziggy said as he carried the little girl up to her room and far away from the chaos downstairs.

Candy's blue eyes grew even wider and tears began to rim the edges, "Is he going to die?"

Ziggy's heart snapped in half. Sighing he hugged the 3 year old tight.

"Come on baby girl. Let's go lay down." he said and walked into her room, laying her on her bed.

Reaching over to the bedside table he picked up the watch and carefully used the key around her neck to turn on the music. Candy lay on the bed, silently listening to the soft music that played from the watch that sat on her pillow. She had loved that watch from the first moment she had heard it.

_Candy had a bad cold. She was barely 6 months old and cried non-stop. Both Ziggy and K had tried everything to quiet her._

_Ziggy had tried every hand puppet he knew and K had done research on every last method she could find. Now the two of them were sitting here passing their daughter back and forth as they tried to get the screaming infant to sleep._

_"What should we try now?" Ziggy asked as he paced back and forth, jiggling the little girl in his arms._

_"How should I know?! We've tried everything!" K said tossing up her hands._

_Suddenly something shiny caught Ziggy's eye. It was the watch Dillon and Tenaya had left behind when they'd left Corinth with Summer._

_"Here take Candy." he said and passed the baby to K._

_"Where are you going?!" she asked exasperated._

_"Just hold on one moment!" Ziggy replied and walked over and picked up the watch._

_"And just what are you going to do with that?" K asked._

_"This." Ziggy replied and pulled out the key he'd found laying on Dillon's bed the day after he'd left._

_Carefully inserting it into the watch he wound it and let it play. The soft tune began to play and a moment later the cries of the baby stopped._

_"Oh my word! It worked!" K gasped as she looked at her daughter who was sleeping soundly in her arms._

_"I know! I didn't think it would." Ziggy replied._

_"Well keep that thing playing and perhaps we'll get a good night's sleep." K replied._

They had gotten a good night's sleep and had ever since. Whenever they needed to calm Candy down it did the trick. Even now Candy was asleep, calmed by the music.

Smiling at his daughter Ziggy pulled the blankets back and tucked them around her small frame. Pressing a soft kiss to her forehead he stood and headed downstairs to see what was up with Dillon.

"So what's going on?" Ziggy asked as he walked into the lab.

Dillon lay on the table wearing a black undershirt, a sheet draped over his lower half. He was hooked up to a monitor that beeped in time with his heartbeat and had a tube in his nose.

"His body had a bad reaction to morphing. His body was rejecting the power. I don't know why quite yet. I'm running tests on both him and the morpher. I should have the results in a few hours." she replied.

"Will he be okay?" Tenaya asked.

"For the moment I think so. We'll have to wait until he's awake to know the extent of the damage. For now I suggest that you rest Rangers. If anything changes I will let you know." Dr. K said.

"Just one thing before we go though Doc…there wasn't an Attack Bot when we got there today. Just Grinders." Scott said.

"That is odd. Perhaps Venjix is just working on building a stronger one. We will have to be ready if he is. So once again I must ask you to rest." she said.

"Right. Night Doc." Flynn said and everyone separated, Ziggy staying behind.

"How is Candy?" Dr. K asked.

"She's asleep. She's shaken up though." Ziggy replied.

Dr. K sighed, "Well I'm sure Dillon will wake up soon and we can assure her that he will be fine."

"I hope so K." Ziggy sighed and with that headed to his own bed.

An hour later everyone was asleep. Dr. K had returned to her room behind the lab to sleep, a laptop opened and connected to the monitors on Dillon. Any change and an alarm would sound and she would wake up. The other Rangers and Tenaya were tucked securely in their beds, worn out from the fight and fright of Dillon's sudden illness.

The only person still awake was Candy. Once she was sure both of her parents and their friends were asleep she had pulled from under her bed a small box full of parts and began to carefully work on her latest project. However soon the process became too noisy and she returned the secret back to it's hiding place.

Once she was sure it was safe she stood up and did what she did most nights and began to wander. She had been told not to but she couldn't help it. She didn't want to stay in bed all night.

Opening her doors she walked down the hall and looked in each door. The first room she came to she found Ziggy and Gem both asleep. The next one was Summer, Tenaya and Gemma, asleep as well with Scott and Flynn the same.

Frowning she looked over the railing and down to the lab and saw the lights were off meaning that her mother had retired to bed for the night. Frowning she knew that downstairs Dillon was alone. She had to make that right.

Walking back to her room she grabbed the watch from her pillow, her pink stuffed rabbit Usa-Chan and her blanket and carefully made her way downstairs.

Reaching the bottom of the steps she walked into the lab where Dillon still lay unconscious. As quietly as she could she pulled a chair next to the table and sat down.

Her Daddy hadn't told her anything earlier but she knew that something was very wrong with Uncle Dillon. Kneeling in the chair she tucked Usa-Chan under Dillon's arm before curling up in the chair with her blanket. Pulling the key to the watch from under the top of her pajamas she wound the watch which began to play.

"Don't worry Uncle Dillon…Usa-Chan and I will stay here with you." she whispered as she curled up with the blanket and in no time she was sound asleep.

* * *

**_Sorry it's been so long! I've been really busy with shopping and getting things ready for Thanksgiving!_**

**_However it is finally over and I had a chance to write this for all of you :D_**

**_I actually got some really good news today and it's that my cousin and his wife (who I guess would be my cousin by marriage) are having a baby! Normally I wouldn't put something like that in a Author's Note or whatever but I feel the need to because they said the names they've picked out and if it's a boy it's going be..._**

**_Hunter Bradley_**

**_I saw it on Facebook and like freaked out. They didn't even know it was a Power Ranger! Well...i guess they do now lol_**

**_I commented on my cousin's wife's status and told her that it was the name of the Crimson Thunder Ranger._**

**_I guess this just means that if it's a boy it's just going to be that much more awesome!_**

**_I also have one more thing to say!_**

**_I am having a small contest!_**

**_If you can find the Anime reference in this chapter, tell me what anime it's from and name the 7 main characters from that anime I will have you help me choose something that will be of utmost importance in a coming chapter!_**

**_So anyhow happy hunting and thanks for reading!_**


	6. Tests & Results

Dillon woke up and immediately felt his body ache. Every muscle in his body hurt and he had no clue how he had gotten back to the Garage. The last thing he remembered was fighting the Grinders and then nothing. Now he was laying here on a table with….a pink bunny?

He pulled the bunny from under his arm and looked at it. He recognized it as Candy's bunny. Looking to his side he saw Candy curled up in a chair next to the table sound asleep. One hand was up to her face, her thumb in her mouth, and her other hand was clutching the sheet that was draped over him.

Sitting up Dillon untangled himself from the wires and a moment later a shrill alarm sounded making Dillon jump. A second later he felt a pair of small hands grab hold of him and a moment later Candy was wrapped around him, looking around, startled by the sudden sound.

Dillon looked for a way to turn off the alarms without putting the little girl down. He couldn't figure out where the plug ins were. However after a few minutes Dr.K came hurrying into the room. When she saw Ziggy and Candy sitting on the table she rolled her eyes before walking over and shutting off the alarms at her computer.

"Candy what are you doing down here?" Dr. K asked.

"Uncle Dillon was alone. I couldn't let him be alone down here." she replied looking at her mother.

Dr. K sighed but couldn't fault her daughter for being worried about Dillon. Everyone else was and Candy was no different.

"What happened?" Dillon asked as Dr. K walked over and began to poke and prod at him, taking his vitals and making notes on her chart.

"Your body rejected your morpher and in doing so sent electrical pulses throughout your body. You suffered seizures as a result and in a few moments I will have you go through a series of physical tests to gauge if there is any damage to your brain. However first I must insist that you return to your room. I will call you down when it's okay to come down." Dr. K replied.

"Aww…Mommy do I have to?" she asked.

"Yes. Now scoot." she said and with a frown Candy headed back upstairs.

Once Dr. K was sure that Candy was upstairs she got started running tests on Dillon. Each one came out perfect. Finally she started her last one.

"And just what is this supposed to do Doc?" Dillon asked as Dr. K attached electrodes which were connected to her computer to his body, a large machine already hovering over him.

"This will send signals to the robotic parts of your body. It will test to make sure that all of them are working in sync with no issues. If they are malfunctioning then it could've caused the malfunction in your morpher. I will have the computer scan each device and inspect it. I should have the full report by at most the end of the day." Dr. K replied as she hooked the last one up.

Walking over to her computer she began to type at her keyboard, staring up at the screens. The machine over Dillon began to buzz and a moment later a green light began to scan over his body. It started at his toes and moved up slowly until finally it reached the top of his head.

Once the scan was complete Dr. K removed the electrodes from Dillon's body. Dillon was considering heading back upstairs to sleep some more since his body ached all over but then he heard voices heading towards the lab. A moment later the team came walking into the room.

"Dillon!" Summer yelled and a moment later Dillon was nearly knocked off the table he still sat on as both Summer and Tenaya threw themselves at him.

"How are you feeling?" Tenaya asked as she hugged her brother.

"I'm okay. A little sore though." Dillon assured both girls.

"Oh! We're sorry!" Summer said pulling away, Tenaya with her

"So what's the diagnosis Doc?" Flynn asked looking to Dr. K.

"I can't be sure just what is going on yet. I'm still waiting for the results. However until I'm sure there will be no morphing." Dr. K replied.

"What?! You're kidding me!" Dillon said looking at the doctor.

"I'm afraid not Dillon. You simply cannot risk morphing again until I am sure the problem is cured. It could very well destroy you." Dr. K replied.

"But I HAVE to help the team! Venjix deserves to pay for everything he's done!" Dillon said, his voice rising.

"Dillon man…calm down. I'm sure it's just temporary. It is just temporary isn't it doc?" Scott asked looking at Dr. K.

Dr. K sighed, "Hopefully."

"Well until then I say we grab some breakfast. Who's up for pancakes?" Ziggy asked and headed to the kitchen.

Twenty minutes later everyone sat at the table while Ziggy flipped pancakes onto plates.

"Candy! Breakfast!" Dr. K called and a moment later Candy came bounding down the stairs in a pair of dark wash jeans and a black v-neck t-shirt, her hair messy around her shoulders.

"Aunt Tenaya can you help me put my hair in a ponytail?" she asked looking at Tenaya.

"No problem kid." Tenaya replied and took the brush and hair tie from the little girl. A moment later she had brushed Candy's curls out and had swept them into a high ponytail.

"Thank you." Candy said smiling at Tenaya.

"You're welcome." Tenaya smiled and lifted the 3 year old onto a chair.

"So how did you choose Candy's name? I mean it doesn't sound like name that either of you would pick." Summer asked turning to Ziggy and Dr. K.

"We were discussing baby names and Ziggy came up with it and I liked it." Dr. K replied.

"I actually came up with it as a joke since she's the one with the sweet tooth. She actually liked it and I guess I kinda liked it too. And here we have Candy." Ziggy smiled.

They all dug into their breakfast but were interrupted as the alarm went off. Instantly all of them were in motion. Dr. K was at her computer searching for the source while the other Rangers were getting ready. Well except for Dillon.

"Don't worry Dillon. I'm sure that Dr. K will have everything figured out soon. The most important thing is your health." Summer said looking at Dillon who was sulking.

"I just…I should be out there Summer." Dillon replied.  
"I know. But I have to go. I love you." she said and stood on her tip toes to press a quick kiss to his lips before hurrying to join Flynn and the twins in the Hummer.

"Love you too!" Dillon yelled and with a wave they were gone.

"So what now?" Dillon asked as he sat down beside his sister.

"We wait. They'll be back eventually." Tenaya sighed.

"This is bullshit." Dillon growled and began to pace.

A few minutes later Candy came walking down the stairs. Dillon hadn't even noticed that she had left the room.

Without a word Candy walked over to the small corner where they had some workout equipment. She began to punch and kick at the punching bag that was there. She was small so it didn't move much as she laid blows on it but that didn't stop her. She was determined as she worked.

"Watching Candy play pretend huh?" Tenaya asked as she walked over to stand by Dillon.

"Pretend?" Dillon asked.

"Yeah…didn't you see the morpher on her wrist?" Tenaya asked.

Dillon looked at the little girl again and saw that she did indeed have a morpher strapped to her wrist. It was silver and looked similar to his and Ziggy's.

"Where did she get that?" he asked.

"It's a prototype that Dr. K was working on but she didn't like the design so she scrapped it. It doesn't have any sort of mechanics on the inside. It's just a shell that Dr. K gave her along with a burnt out Engine cell to play with. She does this every time you guys leave. She's never worked this hard but it's no surprise. She's never had the chance to be a Power Ranger before." Tenaya replied.

"So she wants to be a Power Ranger?" Dillon said looking at Tenaya.

"Of course. Her Dad is the Green Ranger and her favorite Uncle is the Black Ranger. Why wouldn't she want to be?" Tenaya smiled.

"I'm her favorite Uncle?" Dillon asked.

"You don't see it? She's worn nothing but black since we got back and last night she came down to sleep beside you and keep you company. I know you have metal in your head but c'mon Dillon not even you're that thick." Tenaya replied.

Dillon couldn't help but smile and walk over to where Candy was 'working out'.

"What's up kiddo?" he asked.

"I'm training." Candy replied pushing a strand of loose hair out of her eyes.

"Training? For what?" he asked.

"To be a Power Ranger! Duh!" Candy replied.

"Oh so you want to be a Power Ranger huh?"

She nodded, "If I get good enough soon I can be one with you and Daddy. I like working with Mommy but I'd rather be like you guys."

"Well would you like me to help you?" he asked.

"Really?!" Candy asked.

"Of course!" Dillon replied.

Dillon and Candy worked on all sorts of things. Before they knew it the team had returned.

"Alright keep your arm up." Dillon said as he adjusted Candy's arm into a defensive position.

"So working hard?" Scott asked as he walked over to where Candy and Dillon were.

"Uncle Dillon is going to help me be a Power Ranger!" Candy grinned.

"It took my mind off of everything." Dillon replied looking at Scott.

Scott nodded, "Well we're about to fill Dr. K in on everything. You coming?"

"Of course. We'll work on this after while? Okay?" Dillon asked looking at Candy.

"Okay! I'll keep working by myself." Candy said and went back to kicking and punching the punching bag.

Dillon and Tenaya joined the others in the lab. Flynn was already giving Dr. K the details of the fight. There had been some sort of Attack Bot with razor sharp barbed wire coils. After a long fight on the ground the Bot had finally grown and they had brought together the zords to stop it.

The twins had just finished giving Dr. K an over excited and highly enthusiastic blow by blow when suddenly an alarm went off and Dr. K jumped.

"What was that?" Flynn asked.

"That would be the results of Dillon's tests this morning." she replied as she grabbed her computer pad. Summer moved closer to Dillon and laced her fingers though his.

"So…what's the diagnosis Doc? Can I morph again or not?" Dillon asked.

Dr. K was silent for a few moments as she looked over the results, "I'm sorry Dillon but I cannot give you that answer. The tests were inconclusive."

"Inconclusive? So what? I just wait longer? You said that they would be done by the end of the day." Dillon replied.

"I am going to run the test again and this time I will inspect the results myself." Dr. K replied.

"Fine. Let's do this." Dillon replied.

Dillon sat back on the table and Dr. K began the tests over again. She hooked up the electrodes and scanned his body again. Once she was done Dillon stood up and she shoved all of them from the room.

"Do not disturb me unless it's a matter of upmost importance. I must look over these results if Dillon is to be returned to full strength." Dr. K said and sealed the room.

Dillon didn't really know what to do with himself so he walked over and popped the hood of his car. There was really nothing wrong with it but he could always change the oil and refill the fluids.

Summer sighed as she watched Dillon work on the Fury, his brows knit.

"He's really shaken up about this." Tenaya said walking over to stand next to Summer.

Summer nodded, "He loves being a Ranger. I know it wasn't exactly his first choice to be one but he really does like being a Ranger. And with those people that died he's more determined."

"Well hopefully Dr. K will be able to find something that-" but she was interrupted as the doctor came running from the lab.

"MORPHERS! GIVE THEM TO ME NOW!" She yelled.

"Dr. K…what's going on?" Scott asked as he pulled his morpher from his pocket.

An instant later she had wordlessly grabbed the Cell Morpher from his hand and grabbed the ones that Flynn and Summer had pulled out.

"K….you have to tell us…why are you taking our morphers?" Ziggy asked.

"I will fill you in in a moment. Now produce your morpher." she ordered.

Ziggy took off his morpher and handed it to her along with Gem and Gemma. Once she had them all in her hands she walked to the lab, the others following. Sitting on one side of the room was a thick safe that none of them had previously seen. She turned the dial a couple of times before shoving the morphers inside, Dillon's morpher already sitting there.

"Okay you want to tell us what the hell that was about now?" Flynn asked.

"Your morphers have been corrupted. That is what caused Dillon's to malfunction and his body to react badly. When I couldn't pinpoint the reason behind Dillon's malfunction I began to look at the morpher and I found that I had overlooked something because it was so small." Dr. K replied.

"What do you mean by corrupt? Like a file was deleted or…?" Summer asked.

"I mean that part of Venjix has been living inside of the morphers. When he downloaded the files he uploaded one that contained bits of his programming into your morphers. It was such a small file that I regretfully overlooked it." she said.

"Inside?" all of them asked at once.

"Yes and I have further bad news." she said.

"How much worse than 'Venjix survived by living in your morphers' can you get?" Scott asked.

"I've come to the conclusion of how Pirnum was invaded by Grinders and Attack Bots." Dr. K said.

"H-How?" Summer asked, the knot at the pit of her stomach telling her it wasn't going to be something she wanted to hear.

Dr. K took a deep breath, "As you all know the morphers use permanent DNA signatures to attach to the Operator. It's a just a theory but I believe that by having your DNA connected to the morphers you are biologically linked to the bio field. Unfortunately since Venjix had corrupted your morphers he had access to your bodies." Dr. K replied.

"Okay so how does that explain things? There was no way that Venjix could've used any of us…he's a computer virus." Ziggy said.

"Except that…Dillon and I are part computer." Tenaya said slowly looking at her brother.

"He used the morpher and the bio field to access the technology in my body to hack into Pirnum's computers and lower their defenses?" Dillon asked.

"Yes and to do so I'm afraid that he had to reinstate the virus in your body." Dr. K said.

"I have the Venjix Virus back in my body?! Are you serious!?" Dillon said.

"No but there is good news. We can inject you yet again with the antidote which should erase all traces of the virus from your body. We'll also vaccinate Tenaya again to be sure that he didn't some how gain access to her. I also will work on the morphers. I should have them back up and running shortly. Dillon, Tenaya, I'll administer the vaccine now." Dr. K said.

Dillon and Tenaya nodded and stayed behind while the others wandered off with Candy being the only exception.

Candy walked over and laced her hands in Tenaya and Dillon's, "This is what Daddy tells me to do when I have to get a shot. If it hurts squeeze my hand." she instructed.

Dr. K smiled and brought over two syringes, shooting one into Dillon's arm and then Tenaya's.

"You did very well." Candy smiled after the shots were over.

Dillon gave Candy a small smile that didn't reach his eyes before turning and leaving the room, Tenaya on his heels.

"Candy would you like to help me here in the lab? You can keep an eye on the alarm system while I debug the morphers." Dr. K said looking at her daughter.

"No thank you Mommy. I have my own work to do." she said looking at her mother before bouncing off.

Dr. K watched as Candy climbed the stairs and made her way to her room, closing the door. She was slightly surprised that her daughter had given up the chance to mess with the computers in the lab. Usually Candy begged for the chance to do anything in the lab. Dr. K had thought that surely Candy would've jumped at the chance to keep an eye on the city's alarms.

What she was working on was a mystery but Dr. K also knew that it would be next to impossible to find out. Candy could keep her lips sealed better than anyone. However as long as Candy didn't burn down the garage or cause real harm to herself or the others she was fine with what her daughter was doing. Whatever that may have been. With a sigh Dr. K headed to the safe to begin debugging the morphers.


End file.
